Last of the Gerudo
by LostintheShuffle
Summary: The last of a dying clan, a tale of a girl who influences the past and future of Hyrule.
1. A difficult decision

**Prologue**

The crushed tendrils of a wholly fresh day still linger long in the slanting rays of the sun. Bits of cloth and scraps of parchment drift by on the wind, blown into the air by the updraft of the burning castle.

"Like fresh petals on a spring breeze, escaping, for a brief moment, the inevitable death of decay. Ahh, but there they go, eaten by the embers that trail on the edges. Consumed at last."

"My Queen?" comes a harsh voice from behind.

Zelda grips the reigns of her horse and turns to her captain, her reverie broken. Her crown rests lightly on her long hair but it is her only allowance of royalty. The tight leather of a soldier creaks as she shifts on the saddle and the pommel of her long sword is always in her hand. Her eyes bear the mark of the long war, deeply cut lines that remain even when she gazes expressionless over the new town below.

"Do you think they know that the embers of this war still burn at the edges, Malon? That even when the fire is put out that hundreds of small bits may flame up and threaten to consume. Do they understand how at chance we are to any small breeze that may grow to a wildfire?"

Malon turns her horse with the Queen's to look at the newly erected town. The smoke of cooking fires and the sound of happy living fill the evening sky. "My Queen, I don't understand," says Malon.

Zelda closes her eyes and shakes herself, rubbing the triangle tattoo on her hand. "I'm sorry, my friend. I was somewhere else. What did you want?"

Malon, her friend and captain of Hyrule's new army; once a beautiful and joyful girl, now turned equally as hard and uncompromising a soldier by the war. She is a cynic of peace only because she knows how fragile it is, how quick it can turn bad. There is a scar over her left eye and she bears her muscular arms almost in defiance of the steely beauty that still remains to her.

Malon pulls in closer and points at the bonfire of flames that licks about the shattered towers of the old castle. "Couldn't we have saved the wood for rebuilding the castle?"

"No, my captain," says Zelda. "For seven years the tyrant haunted that castle. His body was the pointed roofs and towers, his eyes the glowing windows at night. People heard the screams from the dungeons and heard only his voice yelling in triumphant. No, Malon, we must make an end somewhere, even if it is only symbolic. We burn the castle and we burn him."

"And then we raise it again," adds Malon.

"You're right, we must." Zelda is quiet for a moment as the sun sinks towards Fire Mountain. The flat grassy plain that the castle had stood on is lit by the golden light. It's an almost peaceful scene marred slightly by the bonfire, reminding them of how much has been lost. Towards the edge of the plain, before descending down towards the town, the Queen's temporary sanctuary has been raised. Not far from it is the only structure that still remains from the old castle, a solitary tower that once served as a lookout for the kingdom. The top is shattered and only the toothy remains of stone blocks stick up into the sky. "Let us ride for a moment, captain," orders Zelda and together they set out towards the tower."

Zelda dismounts at the stone wall of the tower and walks inside among the ruins. Malon impatiently jumps down and follows.

The tall tower is hollow inside and the grass floor is strewn with fallen blocks. But in the middle is a clearing where someone has set a small, round golden disc in the soft earth. Together the two women walk over to the disc. Zelda seats herself on a fallen stone while Malon grounds up grass as she paces.

"My Queen!" Malon begins but Zelda holds up her hand to speak.

"Do you think he knew death was coming for him, in the end? I think he knew and yet had no choice. I think each step he made towards power trapped him from ever going back. Death must have been a blessed release."

"And as much as we must hate him for what he has done, surely there must be a little pity? In the end it was the power that destroyed a man. Power." And almost to herself Zelda whispers, "A burden to be sure, for how do we act best with it?"

Malon has heard this before. The story of how he was defeated. And she does not care a bit for the tyrant, no matter how he died. She only wishes she could have the opportunity to put a sword through his heart. But Zelda is the Queen and Malon knows what responsibility sits on her brow. So she squats on the ground, waiting for Zelda to come to the matter. The golden disc is covered in dust and she brushes it off. Her fingers go over the raised triangles and the words that span the borders. _Wisdom, Courage and Power_, read the words.

Finally Malon raises her voice, "Zelda, my Queen, we must pursue them and finish it."

"Then we will be murderers," says Zelda in a small voice.

"Not murderers!" shouts Malon. "Revenge. Precaution. Whatever you want to call it! We must pursue them before they can call upon their clans and regroup. They will be back, you know it! He was their leader and they will call for vengeance."

In a calm voice Zelda says "And would you kill their children?"

Malon clenches her fists, almost in a rage. There are memories deep down that threaten to boil over. In a steely voice, she calls across the clearing, "When I was a child all people seemed like the ivory statues that stood in the great square of this castle, with marble faces upturned towards the sky. But I am a woman now and this is the truth. Most are like the weeds and ivy that choke the great. They climb about the necks of the just, the better, the good and claw and push until they all fall. This is what people are and I can never forget it."

"Not all people, Malon, not all."

But Malon slams her fist down on a rock. "My father! Killed protecting our farm from those black creatures. And when I tried to bury his body and protect the farm that bastard Enigo, our servant, came back. I-I-I I got him in the end, that I did, but he was the scum, the ivy that try and choke all that is good." Her nostrils flare and the veins in her temple throbs. "Those women? They chose their path, so yes, for every child I had to bury or every scream in the dark and anguish in a mother's eyes, yes their children will follow them to the grave."

Malon ends her outburst with a final sentence shot out through compressed lips, "It is a weakness to spare them."

Zelda looks up at the pale red clouds shot through with pink and wonders who this woman is that she used to know. "_Has war so thoroughly changed us all_?" she wonders.

She strokes a finger across her tattoo and speaks quietly into the silence between the two of them, "Do you know what balances the world, Malon? Do you know what we give to each other so that those black beast and foul men cannot tip the scale? I think you knew it once and have only buried under it hatred."

"Hope. And when my kingdom was lost and our chances gone in time? Even then. And when I fell and will fall again, I hear that strange cry of courage and I believe there's always hope. Even as my failures and regrets pile up into mountains that press heavy upon all thoughts and all hours of my life, still it is there."

"Yes, it is my weakness, my biggest one. I can never give up and so my fall is so infinitely far every time I fail. One day I came secretly to my people while the tyrant ruled and the only light I could see in their eyes was defeat. Yes, it was a weakness, and a pain. More, it was the kiss of lingering death to see no hope in people that had once lived in peace a few years earlier. In the clear light of that day they were my peers, my jury that judged solidly every crack and strain of my countenance. Do you know how that feels? Hyrule is me and I am Hyrule. Each of us must be the best of Hyrule. "

"Then night comes and the moon shines it light again down and I see that my people are still beautiful and it is only that I chose to see their defeat. That, Malon, is my lesson. Hope must always exist, and if it does not, then you must believe in it even more."

Zelda stands up and walks around the grassy clearing to where Malon is kneeling. She puts her hand on the short-cropped hair of her captain and speaks to her, "Have you lost hope, Malon, that some people can be good?"

Malon keeps her eyes on the golden disc and the three triangles that represent a struggle far bigger than she can comprehend. She has been a soldier, a resistance fighter, a lover and a rancher. Killing has taken up last few years of her life and it's so hard to see beyond the blood. She tries to remember how she found the will to carry on after losing her father; how she could carry men and women to battle.

The soldier shifts a little when the memory comes. A boy in green, talking together in a field of wheat under that stars. He had spoken of courage, so serious at that age. There seems to be a feeling there, lost to time, but when it surfaces Malon's heart skips a beat.

Finally Malon rises and looks her Queen in the eye, "No. To lose that would mean we fought for nothing."

Zelda looks her in the eye for a long silent moment. Finally she nods and says, "Round three contingents of new recruits and go to the desert. Make sure they mean not to invade a second time."

Malon nods, "it will be done." She turns and almost runs out. Before the sound of the running horse has faded Zelda can hear her calling out for her generals.

Zelda sighs and rubs her tattoo which has been slowly aching. She looks again down at the golden plaque, the last that remains of the dead tyrant. "I know, I know," she says, speaking to the empty tower, "she'll do more than talk to them. But whose blood is more clean, ours or theirs? I can only hope her sword falls lightly in the desert and finds no wellspring of blood."

Beneath the three triangles is a single face raised in a vicious smile. Zelda never liked the idea of this plaque but a man who once had possessed a great deal of courage said it serves as a good reminder. She smiles down at his golden visage. "Isn't that right Gannon? You knew that lesson all to well. Lose hope enough times and all you're left with is another dead Gerudo."


	2. A red rose

The blossoming head of a ruby red rose lies pinched between the ember skin of her fingers. The rushing wind whips up and around her clothes, throwing her hair wildly about her face. She catches the scent of the rose occasionally, a brief fragrance of spring mingled with the cold air. And she could be anywhere then; a high mountain pass, a forest glen full of flowers, a lakeside meadow in the high country, or even the underground grottos of the Zora where the water is pure and clear like the air.

She leans forward from her hard seat and underneath her feet is nothing and yet it is a freedom, and she thinks _"it will be quick and I won`t even scream."_

"Esmelda!" A high voice from behind.

Esmelda leans back from the precipice and the rose falls from her fingers, drifting on the morning wind, its petals fluttering behind the head until it strikes the wooden drawbridge far below.

Running footsteps and then "Esy! There you are. I`ve been looking all over for you. What`ya doing up here?"

"Hi, Taren" says Esmelda, a little sadly. "oh, just taking in the view, you know?"

"Taking in the …..Ah, good joke. Cmon, mom`s looking for you and you know what that means."

"Taren, wait….tell me again what you see from here."

She can hear Taren grumbling and then the clank of leather and armor as Taren climbs up next to Esmelda. "Look Esy, I don`t know how you get up here but it`s dangerous. What if you fell? I`d have no one to play with."

"You`d be the only who`d care." Says Esmelda quietly.

"That`s not true! The Queen says…"

"You don`t hear people in town, Taren, they whisper awful things. Things like bastard spawn and murderer. Even people in the castle say it would be better if I was gone. I don`t know….maybe it would be better, you know? If I wasn`t here to remind people?"

Taren takes her by the shoulder angrily and says "don`t think that, ever! People don`t know you, only the past! They see your red hair and skin and can only remember the tales. You`re not those people. How many times do I have to say this?"

Esmelda shakes her away and smiles wistfully, "I know, Taren, I know. You're my friend and you see me. That`s why were friends." And she waves away the conversation. "Now, please, one more time. What do you see from here? I could almost see it last time."

Taren sighs, puts a hand on her friend`s shoulder and turns to look out across from the kingdom.

"The morning sun has just risen over the Lost Forest where the Kokiri live. It`s a vast carpet of green that begins past Hyrule Plains and stretches out to the horizon. To your right," and she holds up her friend`s hand and points for her, "there, almost hidden, is Lake Hyrule, shining like a gem. It`s so big, Esy, even from here. I`ve ridden there on horse and you can`t see one end from the other."

"Fire Mountain to the left is smoking, a small puff of black, and it has sisters and brothers, smaller mountains that cling to its shoulders. The guards say the Gorons have an amazing city built entirely underground, imagine that! I can`t see it from here but if you climbed that far hill you could see braided rivers that fall from the south. That`s Zora country and the land is all loopy with twists and turns everywhere."

"The town is below us, spread out over the front part of the plains. My mom said it used to be smaller, circled by castle walls. But it`s almost beautiful to me now. I used to run the alleyways as a kid, you know? There`s the mask shop, painted a bright a yellow, the clock tower that sticks up into the sky, and the wide, domed-building surrounded by trees-that's the Temple of Time."

Esmelda waits until her friend finishes reeling on and on breathlessly about the wide kingdom. Finally Taren falls quiet and Esmelda says "But what about…you know…that place?" Taren sighs again for what seems like the hundredth time, "Esy, you know you can`t see that place from here. None of us has ever been there except some of the oldest soldiers."

"I know," she says almost longingly, "but what have you heard?"

"About a desert? Sand, dunes, itchiness. That`s all. Nobody wants to go there, it`s too far. Why? You know you can`t go there."

"Yeah, I know. Only I feel like it`s the only connection I have with them."

"With the Gerudo? They were murderes, butchers! Why would you….ah Esy, I`m sorry, but you know the history."

"I know Taren, but who else do I have?"

Taren puts an arm around Esmelda, "you have me you silly girl."

A small smile, a small laugh. "Thanks Taren, you`re a good friend."

Taren jumps up, balancing easily on the edge of the stone. "Now let`s get down from the roof before either of us fall. My mother will be mad as hell waiting for you and you know how she gets."

Esmelda pauses a second to turn so that the sun rests on the right side of her face, to the North, where they say sand covers the land and there is a sweet, hot breeze that stirs dunes in shapes of pure poetry. There, she hears, one can sit in the shade of a rock cave and hear the rage of the wind as it whips great storms of sand past. Whispered tales of strange designs written in cliff walls, and where words written in sand fade away under the desert`s powerful hand. It calls to her and when she hears hushed tales of that land, bright colors, almost shapes seem to spring out of the blackness of her memory.

"Cmon Esy! Race you down!" Taren breaks Esmelda`s trance, but she smiles nonetheless and yells, "fat chance! I`d beat you hands down if I wanted. "

They both laugh good and hard, fully aware of the truth. Esmelda stands steadily, fully sure of only two things, the stone underneath her feet and the open air in front of her. Taren slips a hand into hers and leads her down from the castle wall to where a walkway runs along the top of the tiled roof. "You know," says Taren, "for someone who can`t see you sure spend a lot of time up here."

"It`s the wind. It brings all kinds of scents and sound to me. It`s almost like I can see. Besides there`s no one there to remind me who I am."

"Esy…" But what could she say? Her friends, strangers and even her mother, captain and closest advisor, had reprimanded her for being so close to this girl. Only the Queen, the strange and reclusive Queen had given her a kind word for Esmelda, though even that was a mystery.

Her mother, Malon, had been teaching her the sword, fencing in one of the upper courtyards when the Queen had stepped out of a shaded hallway. One of her advisors was with her and left to confer with the Captain, leaving Taren alone with the Queen.

"My Queen," she remembered saying and giving an awkward salute. But Zelda had only smiled and brushed a hand over the young girl`s cheeks. "Taren, quick with the sword, I see," said the Queen. "But quick to friendship too." Then the Queen leaned in close and whispered in Taren`s ear "Stay close to the desert girl, she may be more the monster than you hear." And with that the advisor returned and the Queen disappeared back into the dusty, shaded hallway of the castle.

Taren is no deep thinker, bred to be a soldier and loyal to her friends, and her mother, harder than stone, brooks no fanciful questions. But as the young girl leads her blind friend down the stone steps to the round table of the meeting hall she thinks suddenly that it`s so strange that her friend is no more than a slave when peace in Hyrule is practically a living reality.

And Esmelda? But Taren doesn`t ask and her friend stays silent, running her fingers over the rough stone and counting the steps down to the floor. And if one were to peer into Esmelda`s head and see how a slave thinks, what would they find? Resentment? Built up rage at being caged in sightless blackness? Perhaps a hidden pool of hatred deep down for her captors that treat her so good.?

No. She only thinks of how people say a fresh rose is the color of her hair and how she dropped the flower and its petals peeled off to drift in the wind, perhaps drifting forever, even reaching the hot sands and the home of a forgotten clan; her public secret and painful inheritance. The last of the Gerudo.


	3. In the Morning

The Queen of Hyrule sits at the open window in the pale glow of morning, her royal crown resting firmly on her golden hair. The sun catches the small, blue jewel inset in the center, creating a starburst of light. A queen in every sense, from her arrow straight posture to the way her eyes gaze out over her kingdom- she is like those rare eagles: not the lord of birds because of its strength or speed but because although it may dip into the lowest of valley to hunt, in time its wings brush against even the limits of the sky. So it knows both worlds and that knowledge makes it wise.

So she sits, perched at the window. Her room is cold and dark and only her face is yet bathed in the growing day. One can see her hand clutched about the window sill, tense and rigid. The tattoo on her hand, yes, glowing faintly, is the true symbol of who she is. Not her crown, not the castle, not her role in history, but this simple triangle that covers the back of her hand.

She breathes deeply of the clear air and traces the lines of the Triforce lightly.

People the kingdom over all say "Zelda the fair, Zelda the wise," and it's true that in 10 years Hyrule is more in the grasp of peace than it has ever been since Gannon's defeat. Word has reached even across the ocean to distant nations, of a good and just ruler. But what does it mean to be wise? If anybody knew the truth, they would not envy Zelda her crown.

The Triforce is wisdom, knowledge. And more than any other thing of the throne, it weighs most heavily on her shoulders. The power brings her visions of the future, possible futures. They are always branching dreams of inevitable reality; and though she may pick and choose from this knowledge, the moment she takes a step down any path a hundred more open up. It is a terrible burden for her, to have such power; to be so trapped that every step feels predetermined.

She has seen her death more times than she can count, and in avoiding it others have died. She has prevented wars by having men killed in distant, quiet graves in the forest. Everyday it seems less likely a gift and more like a doomed curse where she must always choose the lesser of two evils.

Four hours earlier she had awakened suddenly in her bed, the stars shining through the open window in bright splendor. And in between her racing dreams and coming full awake there was a space of a few breaths where she was nothing but a beating heart and singing soul and that moment seemed to stretch for hours so that she would have given up everything to be so purely innocent. And the vision came.

It flashed upon her as a lighting strike of images and emotion. They come and pass, leaving her breathless. It will take her time to work out their meaning but already there is a bad taste in her mouth, an inkling that some danger moves on the horizon. One image though was bright and clear. It had been reoccurring the last few years and no matter in which direction she moved she could not escape it.

It was an image of inside the Temple of Time. Always the walls were gleaming and the saintly music playing. But on the pedestal, slotted down into the ground was the Master Sword and down its length ran blood. Swirling sands blew around the sword, building up into piles around the room. And in every vision a single drop of blood dripped from the sword's handle to land on the crest of the Triforce. The blood mixes with the sand and a wicked design starts form. And finally the room vanishes in a flash of light and all Zelda can see are endless stars.

So she sits and thinks, making plans for possible futures. And when the sun crests higher in the sky she allows herself a brief respite and smile at the simple beauty of her kingdom. That's when she hears the melody. It's faint at first, like it comes from very far away. It's a twinkling of notes she hasn't heard for more than five years. Zelda jumps up and rushes to her old ivory harp, still smooth and lustrous. Her fingers find the strings and out comes the counter to that echoing melody, one she knows deeper than memory, deeper than long practice. Its roots were in love and she still remembers when she first shared it with that young boy so long ago.

The notes fade, the Queen hugs the harp to her chest, dust motes dance in the sunbeams, somewhere an owl hoots and a voice like whispering grass dances out of the air, "I return, my Queen."

* * *

><p>Esmelda stands with her hands on the back of a chair. The meeting room is quiet she does nothing but wait.<p>

Despite there being no footsteps a steely, cold voice cuts in suddenly, "You are not allowed outside the castle without a hood."

Esmelda stares sightlessly ahead, her face expressionless. "Sorry Malon."

The sound of an armored fist thudding into the table, "Respect, girl!"

"Sorry, M'lady. I just wanted to feel the sun."

Malon lets the silence hang, then gruffly asks "You're health?"

"As well as could be, M'lady. I suffer from no murderous tendencies, if that's what you mean."

"Dammit girl, watch your tongue!" Malon slams the chair back and stalks to Esmelda's side. Esmelda can smell the sweat and oil of Malon's armor.

The years have been hard on Malon. Her eyes reflect all the warmth away and if you looked closely you might find a bit of malice hidden deep. Yet she is Hyrule's keeper and if the Queen is the kingdom's hope then the captain is the sheathed sword; constrained violence held behind the back. She has no problem with peace but equally holds the army as a promise of swift retribution to any of Hyrule's enemies.

But this girl, this dammed desert rat, the very presence of her is a constant needle in Malon's side. _Why did I spare her_, she thinks, staring down into the girl's green eyes.

Finally Malon stirs and grabs Esmelda's arm, leading her roughly from the room, "Come! The Queen desires your audience."

* * *

><p>"Do you hate me, Esmelda?" the Queen asks.<p>

The two stand at the rail of the wide garden-veranda that juts out from the back of the castle. It is the Queen's own creation and it's filled with small ponds and bright flowers. They are far enough away from the main castle to avoid eves-dropping and the flowers fill the air with a sweet scent.

"M'lady? Hate?" Esmelda cannot remember ever meeting the Queen so personally. She has never spoken to her or even deigned to show favor. But she has heard the Queen's voice and now it seems to bear the full force of Hyrule, as if to say "Do you hate us?"

For all her sightlessness Esmelda feels frightened at the presence of this woman.

Zelda puts a hand on the girl's shoulder. She is shaking slightly and the touch eases her nervousness.

Zelda says "When I was your age I lost everything, my family, my land, my friends. My hope. You would not believe how much hate I had then. My hate was a fire and it burned bright. I hated the Gerudo and their king, wanted nothing but revenge. But my hate helped me rebuild my kingdom. I turned that emotion into something else. Something positive. And this kingdom? Every stone placed was once born from a single kernel of hate."

"So tell me the truth. Do you hate me, Esmelda."

Zelda has a rare quality often missing in a good ruler. Some demand it as their right, some force it through strength and others by fear, but as in all things Zelda is first and foremost honest with herself. It comes out when she speaks and what she says and inspires others to be the same.

Thus Esmelda feels, almost unconsciously, that she can be truthful as she has never been in her short life.

With one hand Esmelda grabs her red hair and speaks, "I do hate you. I hate that I can't see and hate that I wasn't killed with my tribe. I hate that all I know of them are stories and hate that I can't feel anything for their loss. I hate that people call me murderer and I hate that I fear they may be right. I hate how you say I am free to live and yet am little better than a slave. I hate standing out and I hate hushed words when I walk the halls."

Esmelda grabs a bone necklace from around her neck. "I hate that this is all I have from my mother. Mother? I don't even know who she was. I hate that Gerudo is a bad word and I'm a bad word! What is a Gerudo? I don't know and I hate that feeling. Most of all I hate myself for hating the nice people who don't see any of this."

Her strength gives out and Esmelda sinks to the tiled floor. Zelda joins her, sitting on her knees, waiting until Esmelda takes a few deep breaths and raises her head. Zelda notes that she cannot even cry.

The Queen takes Esmelda's hand in her own, "There is nothing that you deserve more than to hate. You have that right."

When Esmelda learns that she won't be scolded for speaking she grins a little and says "Thank you, my Queen."

"No, Esmelda, call me Zelda. One friend to another right?"

"But….Zelda…I…I am your enemy."

"No Esmelda, you are something else, something special. I want you to remember that."

"Will you tell me one thing, my Q…Zelda?" Esmelda asks.

The Queen knods, smiles and shakes her head and says "Yes, what is it?"

"Why was I spared?"

The Queen is silent, searching. Finally she stirs and says "Because we all need to believe in something. I needed to believe in hope; hope that not everybody was so evil. But I only gave the order, you might want to ask the one who spared her sword."

"Who was that?"

"You're guardian."

"Malon? But she's so…..so.."

"Yes, I know, still, ask her someday. She may tell the story. Now come, stand up with me."

They got up together, hand in hand. The Queen turns her towards the distant hills. "There, some leagues from this castle, is the river that runs around the moat. Do you know where that river comes from?"

"Zora country?" guesses Esmelda. "Yes," says Zelda. "It is one of the main tributaries that leave their great underground lake. I have a messenger, coming down that river, arriving this afternoon by boat. This person is very important and yet, I need to keep it a secret."

Esmelda says nothing, unsure why the Queen is telling her this.

"A secret. So I need to ask a favor. Can I trust you?"

_Can I trust you_? The question bounces around Esmelda's head. _Can I trust you_. Trust to do what? Esmelda still feels a kernel of hate inside, but she likes the honesty of their relationship, so she promises herself _I'll trust this Queen until she shows me different_. "Yes, Zelda."

"Thank you. I need you to go alone and meet this messenger on the docks outside of town. He will know what to do from there."

Esmelda is a little shocked. "But Zelda how will I find my way through town on my own? I can't even go outside the castle! How would I know this messenger or he know me? "

"Ahh, you'll have a guide. And I think there'll be no problem finding the messenger."

"A guide? But I was to go alone."

"In a sense. Will you do it? Do you still trust me?"

"Yes, I do. You don't know how badly I want to be outside the castle. But who's the guide?"

At that Zelda finally grins, "not who, girl, what. Hold out your hand."

Esmelda does so and with a sound like tiny bells she feels something light brush past her ear and land on her hand.

"Say hello," says Zelda, "to a fairy."


	4. Amidst Hyrule Town

The little voice at her ear says "Hey, look!" and then dissolves into fits of uncontrollable giggles.

The fairy's name is Zee and she perches in the folds of Esmelda's hood as they make their way into town in the early afternoon of a brilliant day.

The fairy was a surprise for Esmelda, and in general for Hyrule, as they are rarely seen outside the glades and grottos of hidden places. There are rumors that fairies can heal any wounds, lead a person to treasure and even extend the span of one's life. But the truth is hard to know as they hate to be captured. However if one gains their loyalty there is no more solid friend in life.

Now they approach the great wall of the town and the arch that is built into it. The blue crest of Hyrule is inset on each side of the entrance and through it can be heard the laughter, the yelling, the haggling, the muted beat of the heart that is the creature called civilization.

"Now straight through the arch," calls Zee in her high pitched sing-song voice.

Esmelda can fell the path under her feet change to cobblestone, but she pauses and puts a hand out on the wall to steady herself. _I can do this,_ she thinks, _no one can see my hair, they don't know who I am._ But she is still afraid and her heart beats nervously.

"Hey, its okay, Esmelda. Just take it slow. I'll guide you through." "Okay," says Esmelda, so nervous she can hardly speak.

With Zee whispering the details Esmelda enters the town proper.

The humans of Hyrule differ in many aspects from their more exotic counter-parts. The Zora inhabit the glittering-blue world of their underwater caves; they add only carved symbols and things wrought from aquatic life. The Goron keep to the earth and mould and shape the rock into great caverns. They have statues and engraved murals but no true architecture. The elves dream their dreams in the green world of the forest. They have simple huts and dwellings that sit among the canopies of trees that brush the sky and mesh well with the living things of nature.

But the humans? The children of Hyrule had been borne on the grassy plains, at the feet of soaring mountains. These were nomadic people born to dream of wide horizons; of toothy peaks piercing the sky and of rolling hills that stretched forever in undulating grassy waves. They raised homes big and solid, a proclamation of the human soul that other races likened to a raised fist shaking at the sun.

Hyrule town, rebuilt after the Gerudo War, is full of straight lines and solid craftsmanship. There are no fanciful designs save the few artistic decorations, only square buildings and larger, square market places. Every bit built stone by stone, block by block with not a single crack in-between.

Esmelda has no inkling of this, only what her imagination can call up from Zee's descriptions. And what does a fairy know? She spends more time laughing at the colorful dresses and little dogs that run around.

They reach the bustling center of town when it all suddenly grows too much for Esmelda. The expectations of hitting something has made her skin tingle, and what more she misses the quiet and solitude of the castle. "Zee! I…..I need to sit down somewhere."

The fairy giggles a bit, but clutches Esmelda's red locks and peers around. "Ahh you poor girl. There's a bench over there." Together they go to sit down.

They are on the edge of the open plaza, and in the middle of it is a clownishly dressed man surrounded by young children. As Esmelda sits clutching the folds of her robe she listens to the man entertain his young audience.

"And his eyes flashed red! And his hair flamed in orange fire! He had Zelda clutched in one hand and a dark sword in another. His smile was evil. Evil! All was dark then and Hyrule was doomed." The man pauses and there is a collective silence with all the children gazing raptly. "And then the door crashes inward and there's a bright flash and you know who stands there with his great sword and shield in hand?"

The children all gasp and in unison yell "the Hero of Time!"

The story-teller snaps his fingers and says "Yes! Link! The monster-slayer, the kingdom saver! The Evil vanquisher, the maiden rescuer. The Hero of Time!" And he takes a stance with an imaginary sword and shield. "The Hero yells out 'Gannon!' and Gannon snarls and hurls a fireball as big as a house at Link. But Links not afraid and he stands bravely and swings his sword like this." The man makes a big whoosh with his imaginary sword and the kids all yell madly. When the noise dies down he resumes his tale.

"Zee," asks Esmelda, "did you ever meet this hero, Link?"

"The Hero of Time?" Hey, I'm not that old! Besides I heard he hasn't been seen in ten years or more. One of my sisters did long ago and she said that he's kind but rarely smiles. But to tell you the truth I heard he once put his fairy in a bottle so I wouldn't want to personally meet him. Why?"

"Because, Zee, of who I am. This Gannon, he was my king, our king, ex-king. I don't know. I know he's dead and was responsible for a lot of bad things but he's my only connection to the Gerudo. I just would like to talk to Link because I figure, you know, he would know him best being his enemy." But secretly she has no faith that it will ever happen. The legendary hero has been missing so long that some people have forgotten who to thank when the anniversary of Hyrule's liberation comes around. And to Esmelda, Link is like the moon; there but forever out of reach.

Meanwhile Zee has grown bored and starts to get restless. Fairies are naturally curious and Zee is no exception. "You stay here and listen. I'm going to fly around."

"But….but what if you don't come back?" asks Esmelda, starting to panic. "Hey, I'll be back, I promise," counters Zee and flies off.

One of the magical properties of the fairy is the power to exist at the edge of sight. This power works because the longer a person lives the more callous they become to the mundane sights of the world. The busy adults of the market go about their day blanking out the stone walls, rustling trees and the manic traffic of everyone else. The fairies simply float in this background, in plain sight but out of mind.

But not children. Zee buzzes around, playfully touching objects and flittering by the ears of distracted adults. One child, who dances artlessly at the edge of the plaza, notices a bouncing ball of light and runs after it gleefully. The little boy finally catches the thing in his hands. His eyes sparkle with joy as he open his fingers.

There are some pieces of art that grow in beauty the longer you gaze at them. Like how a forest can become a single, branching vein on a sun-drenched leaf. A painting can be an exquisite scene of art, but then you look closer and see the details of the face or the eyes, and you look closer still- and there- the individual strokes of color, each the foundation of unified whole.

So the little boy gazes into his hand at the little ball of light that becomes a tiny girl with a wild blue dress and translucent wings that catch the light and sparkle. But he peers closer and through the mass of tangled, golden hair is a face that is both young and ancient, smiling up at him with a grin of great enjoyment. And he is caught strong so that his gaze goes deeper, falling into the small fairy's eyes. They seem to grow bigger and bigger in his mind until they are great portals of black with dancing irises of purple. And deeper the boy falls until the portals of the fairy's eyes dissolve to reveal a vast sky of night filled with blazing stars and distant planets.

This vastness is too much for the boy and as he stumbles onto his butt the town comes back into focus. The fairy flies away, trailing the fading sound of mischievous laughter. Years later the boy will become a great thinker of philosophies, influenced by this random encounter with an almost infinite expanse of universe; but for now his new toy has gone away and he cries grumpily.

Zee soon loses herself in all the sights and sounds of the town and forgets about Esmelda.

After an hour of waiting Esmelda grows more nervous and calls out "Zee? Zee!" But there is no answer and she can feel the sun getting low in the sky. "Oh, why did I trust that stupid thing? I'll never make it to the landing and the Queen will know I failed."

In despair Esmelda stands up and calls louder "Zee!" A few people turn their heads but soon lose interest.

"What'll I do?" Zee whispers to herself. The noise of the town is like a buffeting blanket and she can't remember which direction she came from.

The noise swells. She takes a few steps and someone bumps into her. "Watch where you're going girl!" says a rough voice. "Sorry" she mumble, head down. Afraid to draw attention, afraid to miss her promise to Zelda, afraid to even move a foot- Esmelda stands still as hundreds of people flow around her- all alone and lost.


	5. to be lost and then found

"We could've had a something, you know?

If you would just stay."

She holds his rough hand with both of hers, willing him not to go with her eyes. His fingers slipping slowly away against hers and finally the last caress, fingertip to fingertip before contact is lost.

Severa is the princess of the Zora. She stands in the small rock cave pierced with the light of day from a far-off opening. There is a pool of water in the center that though small is infinitely deep, connecting the cave with the Zora kingdom. Blue crystals grow underwater, throwing faint blue shimmer upwards so that Servera's scales and smooth skin glisten in that light. And yet for all their strange ways and hidden lives in the deep blue the Zora are almost beautiful in appearance.

They are thin and lithe, though plated with wiry muscle from a lifetime of swimming. Their translucent wings, which help them move fast through river tunnels, look almost like regal capes when they stand at rest.

They are clumsy on land, given to shuffling about, almost unsure of the clear air. But by the goddess, if you were to slip beneath the waves to the clear blue waters of their world, you would see what true joy there is when the Zora swim. To them it is an effortless dance, when every whim is smooth and graceful. They sing sonar songs in the deep, echoing the dreamy happiness of being lost in the flow of a river or creating complex dances below the surface of a lake.

Severa, princess of the Zora, shares this cave with a man wearing a green hood, face lost in shadow.

"But I know she waits for you," says the Zora, half sad that this man must leave. The silent man nods.

"Tell her to remember my people when the time comes. Remember who warned her. Would you do that?" The man nods.

They stare at each other in the dancing light of the cave. The man finally moves to reach into his cloak. He throws a package to Severa who catches it and rips it open.

"A 21 pounder! From Lake Hyrule? They always taste the best." She smiles again not knowing if this will be their last moment together. Then Severa turns and jumps into the pool with her fish, treading water and looking up at the man.

The man stands over the pool and from the shadowed cowl comes an old and tired voice though it is very kind. "Ruto would be proud."

He watches her watch him as she slowly slide down into the deep, black depths. When she is gone he takes a deep breath, shrugs his pack on and turns towards the exit.

* * *

><p>Esmelda is lost and no matter how many times she shouts Zee's name the fairy is nowhere to be heard.<p>

Her face feels flaming hot and all she can think about is how the Gerudo were fierce warriors and how she is blind and in near-panic at being lost in the town.

She strikes about blindly, feeling along doors and walls with her outstretched hands. She falls prey to the worst of thoughts imagining all that could befall her in this anxious time.

And then the stone road seems to fall out from underneath her and she strikes dirt with her knees. She tries to feels around, her fingers finding a large stone with raised lettering.

"Relatives of yours? Though I dare say if they are then there is a slight bit of death separating you from a true reunion."

"What?" replies Esmelda to the odd voice, "I'm sorry but I'm terribly lost."

"Ahh, a grave mistake my dear girl, but fear not for you are among equals, for they too are lost to time's warm grasp."

"I…I….I'm sorry?" stutters Esmelda.

"A tombstone, lost one. And me, dear Eneyo, shaper of the lost, caterer to the humorless grinning masses, burier of the dead and all together amateur playwright. At. Your. Service." And you can literally hear this strange man's bow, so all together extravagant is it.

"A graveyard?"

"Yes, yes. But more than that, a stage! A short bit of dirt with the odd stone marker and maybe the flies do disturb our artistic visions, oh and to be honest the critics here are a bit stiff but hey, you'll never have a more captive audience."

_This man's crazy_, thinks Esmelda, _what've I gotten myself into?_ "Please sir, I am blind and have lost my way. Can you show me to the town docks?"

She can hear the man's steps as he comes closer and seizes her by the arms. "Come, come. Stand and dust yourself off. I can have no urchins of poverty among the wings of my great theater. The docks, you say? Well, here be the docks of a certain river, though to be fair a great deal more moist under the skin eh? All folks wash up at these shores, and I, but the shipwright and shepherd, do take and receive my passengers from their former lives and transform them, Transform, I say!"

"Isn't the graveyard next to the Temple of Time, good sir."

"Yes my star girl. It is the backdrop to all my plays. Why I forgot about it in all the rush. Why, I'm a regular draw to the locals, a sold out performance ever night." And Esmelda thinks of silent graves echoing in the night as this man belts out his mad, impassioned sermons to the dead.

"Say, you're a beut, how bout staring in your own soliloquy? I've an old friend here, a real doll, fits your likeness, to skin and rare hair. Whad'ya say?"

_Either he doesn't know what I am or doesn't care_. She thinks. Out loud she says "what kind of role?"

"Role? Only the best for the best venue. When the audience is this cold you can't call on any mediocore performance. Ya gotta be true or go home."

"Was she a Gerudo, this old friend?"

"A Gerudo? Ahh, you mean the sand suckers. Yep, but tragically no. Would make a good story wouldn't it? But alas no, this is a soliloquy of a woman who renounced her tribe, her family and helped fight against them. Noble! Courageous! And a good looker of the rumors fall true."

"You mean there was a Gerudo who disagreed with the war?"

"Poetic my dear, poetic. A right hand general to old blunderbuss Gannon and what does she do? Thumbs her nose and disappears; giving good old Hyrule a helping hand and her old comrades a kick in the pants. What a story eh?"

So! rejoices Esmelda, her heart suddenly beating, some Gerudo were not murderous savages.

"Sir, if I were to perform this, this speech, at the town landing- how would I get there?"

"Oh, to make a landing for the first time, to break a leg amongst the world of theater, what joy what expanse o' passion. My dear girl- you would go along this outside wall, always following the left turns until the gateway comes into sight, or heh, to be more precise for a talent such as yours, until it comes into the grand gesturing touch of an enlivened performance. Now carry to! I'll perform the piece the quickly, listen how I pitch the divine into such common words. Professionalize it!"

But Esmelda slips away while the undertaker undertakes his whimsical plays to the only audience who would give him an ear if it wasn't already rotted away.

* * *

><p>The sun edges closer to the horizon, throwing plaited gold over the tiled roofs of the town. Like a breath of fresh air Esmelda finally finds the gate and feels the path turn from cobblestone to the wood of the drawbridge to the dirt of a narrow path. She pauses to wipe the sweat out of her eyes and runs a hand over the tall grass at her side. She knows there is a side trail not to distant that leads to the river landing. So she sets off.<p>

The voices of the town fade and Esmelda starts to smile, proud of getting back on track. The sun grows stronger against her cheeks and as the wind blows hotly against her neck she can almost believe there's sand under her feet and far-horizons in front.

But then there is a peculiar sound, almost like the rattling of stones. Esmelda stops and cocks her ear. It comes again, a rattling-clacking sound that draws closer and closer. Her heart starts to flutter and she isn't sure if she should run forward or flee backward. She only knows that to lose the path means she would be truly lost.

"Zee!" she yells loudly but there is no answer. Then suddenly there is an answer; a low moan sounding like something with a great hunger crying out with no tongue. Then the rattling is right next to her and she knows what it sounds like: bones rubbing together!

With the realization comes a skeletal hand clutching at her arm and the sudden hot breath of unimaginable decay on her face. The thing moans again and in its howl is every dead thing's hatred, its clawing desire to pull down the living into its eternal grave.

Esmelda runs. Her dash carries her far off the trail. She's flying over the grass, heading desperately away from this horror. The sound of the river comes to her ears and she runs for it, hoping to find someone, anyone. Suddenly the grass stops and she hits the soft earth of the river bank. She skids to a stop and listens. Its quiet at first but then the rattling comes and this time it brings friends.

A little cry escapes her throat and she feels like a little blue bird flapping its wings in a desperate attempt to escape a plunging hawk. Helpless, alone.

She falls backward off the bank, a drop of two feet, into swift water. But her hand catches a single root and she clings fiercely to it. The current tugs strongly at her legs. The scrabbling-shuffling rattle comes closer, moaning their hungry cries. Her strength is fading and her fingers start to loosen. She turns her head away, sure the next moment will be her last.

Then cutting through the air is the distinct ring of sliding steel. The rattling bones stop. A quick clang, a crash, another crunch and a last thud, then all is silent. The smooth hiss of steel sliding against steel and a distinct click.

Esmelda is close to fainting at the effort of holding on to the root.

Her fingers come loose one by one and just as they slip and she starts to slide into the cool fast water a strong hand reaches out and plucks her bodily from the water. She's lowered in two strong arms to the ground, wet and dripping.

She coughs and gasps, reaching for the stranger's arms. She finds armored braces and her fingers trace across its surface. And in that heightened state that is the will fighting to stay above the welcoming darkness she notices the raised surface is three inter-linked triangles. Her lips open to utter a word, perhaps a name or even a last wish but the light fades from her eyes and she slips mercifully into oblivion.

The stranger, in the old, smooth voice that sounds like the blowing wind, brushes the girls hood off and whispers "So one survived."


	6. A talk between growing friends

It is that time of day when darkness is just beginning to settle; that strange moment, poised on the edge of evening, when torches are not yet needed and one may be caught in a vague notion of grandeur.

So in the soft grass next to the babbling river where a tree grows strong and a long red ribbon blows forlornly from its highest branch, there sits Link. His blue eyes are caught on the pink blossoms that clump together on the black branches like puffy clouds. The evening wind sways the blossoms together like a quiet ocean and sends the ribbon rustling out like the long tails of horses at full gallop. And with an almost invisible subtlety the petals of each blossom catch the last blazing color of afterglow in the sky.

The sky darkens, the clouds blend and blur with it, and finally the blossoms lose their distinctive coloring and sink into a deeper, darker intimacy with the night. Link sighs and there is a touch sadness at his eyes and the barest of melancholy smiles. A brief flare of flame and he pulls on a small cigarette, the glow enveloping his smooth face and arch of golden hair.

With every smoky exhale stars grow brighter above. Finally he stubs it out and reaches into his pack. Suddenly, like a cat uncoiling, he springs to the side of the tree with an empty bottle. Link slams it down on the grass, cupping the bottom and bringing it back to the tree.

"What`s your name bug?" he asks and shakes the bottle gently.

A blue glow grows in the bottle and a tiny figure beats madly at the walls. Her face is lit with rage and the fairy`s wings bat against the small space. Link set the bottle down on the grass and puts a rock over it. "Her fairy huh?" he indicates the unconscious girl lying on the grass before him. Esmelda is wet and shivering but covered with a large green cloak. Her brilliant red hair is plastered to her forehead.

After thinking a bit Link starts a fire with grass and twigs before taking the bottle up. "Listen you," he says to the fairy, "I`ll let you out but no hair pulling." He uncups the bottle and the fairy flies out immediately.

"Hey! You oaf! You moron! You idiot! You never cage a fairy!" The fairy buzzes around Link`s head before hovering over Esmelda. "What`d you do to her? If you hurt her you`ll face a Queen`s rage. Who do you think you are?"

"I am honored to say I once had the privilege of being friends with a very brave fairy called Navi."

The fairy sinks down to the blanket over Esmelda and says "Oh shoot."

Link extends his hand palm up and adds "It is an honor to meet you. My name is Link and I am sorry for caging you. What is yours?"

To be courteous and thoughtful with a fairy demands the same in return, so their law goes. The fairy shakes herself, flies onto Link`s palm and bows. In her sweet, sing-song voice she says "My name is Zee most honored friend of the Great Mother. We all know Navi and what she did. My apologies too for sneaking in the grass, I didn`t know what happened to Esmelda."

The ritual courtesy over, Zee flies up into the air. "You won`t tell the Great Mother will you?"

Link chuckles, "The Fairy Queen? Never, but then again she seems to know everything anyway. So this is Esmelda, huh? Tell me Zee, oh young fairy, why is there a Gerudo in Hyrule?"

Zee ruffles her wings at being called young but answers "She is the messenger from Zelda. Sent to meet you. She has a message for you."

_Zelda_. Her name sends shivers over his heart and he takes a deep breath. _Soon, my dear love_. But the mystery is this girl. Why a Gerudo, here of all places? Link had heard of the slaughter as he travelled, but even distance was no comfort to the guilt he felt for all those murdered women. He`s a hero and that means their deaths will stay with him, always wondering how he could`ve saved them.

He shakes out of his pitiful reverie when Zee asks what happened to the girl. He does his best to explain to the fairy of the Skelo`s attack and how she nearly drowned. "Will she wake soon?" asks Zee.

"I hope so, but time will tell. For now she breathes evenly and is warm. But tell me Zee, why are you with her."

"Oh, I forgot. She`s blind and I was her guide."

"Why was she alone when I rescued her?" In the shadows of the fire Link`s eyes become deep pools of black.

"I..uh…well….there was this dog that yapped and yapped and…uh. Look!" and she flies up to land on Link`s shoulder. "This is my first time out of our cave! I got distracted. But I`ll do better next time. I promise."

Link knows all too well that the best of people sometimes make mistakes and what they need more than harsh words is someone to trust that they can do good once again. "I understand, Zee. I`m sure you`ll be as good as Navi was."

Zee seems to grow brighter and beam with a small, proud smile. "You bet!" she pips.

Together they settle around the fire to wait for the young girl to wake up. Link takes out a long scabbard topped with a blue handle. He draws a long, silvered sword, polished to a gleaming shine. The fire light catches the mirrored surface and flashes up at the tree, briefly illuminating the pink blossoms. Link removes the gloves on his hands and runs several bare fingers down the sword`s length.

There are some looks to a man`s face when you know he is in love, some when he holds a deep hate and even some when he seeks to hide jealous glances. Link looks down at his sword as if meeting an old friend, someone who had been through the thick and thin of adventure together. He handles it with an intimate touch as if every texture and weight of its length has long been committed to deep memory. His hands move down to its tip where he strikes it softly with a fingernail. It rings like a bell sounding from far away. And this is when his hands fall into the fire light for the first time, naked, and Zee seeing them leaps up into the air and screams.

"It`s true! You have the markings. Why didn`t you say something. Why don`t you heal her."

There`s a strong urge to hide his hands out of the light but instead he holds them out further into the orange glow. And there, on the top of each hand, is a gold triangle.

He turns them a bit, watching the light play over the tanned skin and veins of his hands. So simple a thing, these marks, and yet…_and yet what?_ he thinks, _what can I say_?

Link sighs and the evening turns darker and more somber. He gazes out through the fire, through Zee and through Hyrule, into the past and remembers.

"I can`t Zee."

The fairy starts to protest in an angry buzzing sound.

"Wait, Zee. Let me explain." And Link looks briefly up through the woody smoke at the brilliant stars. "Let me tell you a story and I promise that it will hold the answer why I can`t help her."

The fairy buzzes up and down a few times, obviously angry but she settles down eventually near the fire and falls silent.

Link gathers his knees up to his chest and speaks, looking out to somewhere, but not the present. "Fifteen years….fifteen years of travelling, hiding, being chased and killing because of these." And he holds up the two tattoos. "Fifteen years of never having more than a few days at a time with Zelda, never seeing the lost woods of Kokiri forest where I grew up, never knowing a span of lasting peace. To some people I`m a hero," and he seems to toss that word over his shoulder, "a hero to be demanded of. And to others I am just another "Gannon"," and there is true sadness in his voice, "another tyrant with the power."

And he holds up his right hand so that the triangle points towards the stars, "power." He holds up his left hand the same way "Courage." Then he puts them down again and resumes talking, almost seeming forgetting about Zee. It has been too long since he gave voice to his thoughts and even longer since his memories took the shape of words.

"The triforce. I`ve lived with it for so long that I`ve forgotten that to others it's a myth, a legend filled with lost goddess and monsters and evil kings. But it`s my curse and I guess that is the burden of a hero: to carry them unspoken."

"Many years ago I traveled across the ocean seeking the people that Gannon had once found. It was in his journal, those words that spoke of a lost nation that cared nothing for the wars of Hyrule. I landed on the coast of Valor, or so they call it. It took many weeks of wandering, but what is time to someone pursued by destiny? I found the tribe among the high, wet mountains of the northern coast; where it mists among pine trees and they build elegant huts that perch on the lips of high cliffs.

They were indeed a peaceful people, and they let me dwell among their kind. They had no more ambition than to greet the sun in the morning, sing songs at noon and laugh together as a community as the sun set over an endless ocean. They had great trees that grew from the cracks of the mountain, and I would climb them and stand in the canopies as they swayed in the coastal winds. I could forget who I was, what I did and what I carried. It was…..peaceful. I put my sword up and took to learning their art of wood –carving. And for the first time since I left Hyrule I knew the slumber of dreamless nights.

But then they came again and I knew the peace had ended. Seekers of power, looking to find the one triforce that grants incredible potential. At first it was one lone swordsman and he confronted me in a duel. His blood was added to my sword. And then another. The peaceful people of Voral asked why and I told them of myself and the three pieces of the Triforce and of Gannon. They would not ask me to leave but I saw that I was bringing something ugly into this beautiful world.

The night before I was to leave, the chieftain`s daughter woke me up from sleep and said a strange man had kidnapped her father. I knew the reason why so I rushed to follow her and we found the kidnapper and her father at the very edge of the tallest cliff that overlooked the ocean. He was a dirty bastard, longhair and a crooked smile. "You know why I`m here, yellow hair," he said, "give me the power or the man dies," and he gestured with dagger over the cliff.

And I remember that it was a cloudy night with drizzling rain but the moon was full and bright and the tattoos were shining. I thought of Gannon then as the man held a dagger to the chief`s neck. I had not dwelt on Gannon in a long time but I felt sure that he would have used the power and killed this man a thousand times, bringing him to life just to see the light fade from his eyes every time. Gannon would have taken delight in the inventive ways to kill and even prolonged every second of it. It brought to mind such corruption that follows the use of power that I could not use it to save the chiefs life.

And equally I could not give the power away, it does not transfer like that. In fact I know of no way to do it. But the kidnapper didn`t know that and he screamed for the power. I pleaded with him on that rainy slope, inching closer and closer until finally he pulled the dagger across the chief`s throat and bright red blood fountained out. It stopped me cold; I had not thought the man capable of it. But he yelled with a mouth wide open "You did that, Hero! You could`ve saved him! But no, you hold the power away from the world, refusing to use it. You waste it!" The man turned and dove over the cliff in a perfect dive into the frothy waters of the ocean.

I saw red then, pure rage at these careless accusations. No one knows the burden of it, no one knows how the power of this triforce corrupts absolutely. You use it once thinking to do good and before you know it you use it all the time to enforce that good. And that bastard, that selfish bastard claimed that it was for anyone to take!

I ran past the fallen chief and heard him choking on his last breaths, ran to the edge of the cliff and peered down into the water. I could see him swimming far out, a black dot caught in the shining moon. I clenched my fist and the triforce burned on my hand. I could feel, somehow, out there in the deep depths of the ocean, a giant force, monstrous and lethal. I called to it with no thoughts but my rage, lifted my right hand higher and higher and yelled to the gray clouds. The swimming man seemed to hear me for I saw him turn. What must he have seen then, looking back at an angry god? A burning, golden light in the dark? Whatever he saw was the last thing he would ever see.

I saw it first from high up, a darker shape than the dark ocean, a vast blob growing bigger under the tiny man. The triforce burned as I whispered things I am ashamed to think of. It`s mouth broke the surface of the ocean first, a cavernous maw filled with sharp teeth. It`s head and body followed, a great smooth mass of white muscle, fins and tail. It shot out of the water with such force that it`s entire body cleared the ocean`s surface and for a moment it hung in the air, a monstrous whale. And when it reached it`s peak, it`s mouth closed with a deafening thump and I knew the kidnapper was no more. The monster`s red eyes seemed to focus on me even from such a distance, though maybe it was the fading of rage and settling of guilt.

With a last echoing moan the monster splashed back into the depths and I felt it`s presence fade from my mind. I slumped to my knees and felt the rain fall on my head and knew I had to leave.

Their chief was dead and in the calm of the early morning they gathered around a small hut and asked me to be their leader. They had seen my power or at least what they thought it was and for them I was a great man who could protect them. But I have seen what happens to leaders who rule willingly. One person to say what is right over the majority? Was I that man to judge the shape of their tribe? No, I couldn`t do it and ran from their land in the dark, hearing their voices call over the pounding rain.

It`s this power. It calls to those who would hear it, those most unworthy to have it. That is the curse, to always be hounded by its presence and forced to protect it as long as I live."

In the brief lull of Link`s story Zee calls out a question "Link, what about the other?"

Link laughs but there is no joy in it. "The other? It is courage. But here is a great secret, my little friend, that no one knows and will ever find out until they too wear its badge someday. It has no power. Nothing. It is a symbol only that says "have courage." To me it is the stronger of the two, perhaps even of the three though few would probably understand that. Courage…" and he trails off into the dark.

"Courage means never giving up, never giving in, always looking for the good and truthful. A long time ago I accepted this mark. The power, I never will. But courage? Sometimes I think I was given the triforce of power only because I had worn the other so well. A cruel joke, I sometimes think."

Zee smiles a bit though to be honest it is all over her head a bit. But she understands about power. Fairies are given their fare share but they are taught by their Queen of the responsibility that comes with it.

"So even though you could heal this girl it`s better not to because you could do more harm?"

"Yes! Zee, I could heal her completely, do you understand? I could restore her sight, take away the stigma of red hair and make her normal for Hyrule. But does she want that? And what of her personality? Maybe she likes to argue or is too head-strong? Should I make her nicer or fix some character flaws? Don`t you see how beautiful it is to be naturally unique. I can never inflict this power willfully over another. It stinks so much of tyranny."

"I see," says Zee. She buzzes over to Esmelda and lands on her shoulder. After stroking her hair a few times she turns to Link and says "I can see why the Great Mother spoke so much about you."

Link smiles briefly, remembering that fantastically gorgeous woman floating over her otherworldly fairy fountain. "Zee, when she wakes we must reach the castle immediately."

"Why? Is there some danger to Hyrule? To Zelda?" asks Zee

"No. Barring this message that the girls carries there is nothing of immediate danger. It is only a simple thing, a beating heart in love. I can`t wait to see her and to be so close is hard. Why I can see the light in the tower of the castle and I`m sure that`s her. You`ve been with her recently Zee? Is she still as radiant as the new sun?"

Zee is about to answer when an unsteady voice says "I`m well enough move sir Link, if you would guide me. I`ve been listening this whole time and if you don`t mind me saying, I think you are very brave." Esmelda struggles up to a sitting posture and shakes herself all over. She shrugs off the cloak and checks her dry clothing.

"Ahh, you should`ve said something girl. Are you sure you`re well?"

"My name is Esmelda, and no, I am well and you have a queen waiting."

Link chuckles, "you know her too then. Before we head out, what is the message you have from her?"

"Message?" struggles the recovering girl, "oh yeah I completely forgot. No, there is no message, only this." She reaches into her shirt and draws a pendant out over her head, handing it in the direction of Link`s voice. He takes it and studies it for a moment before gasping, "This changes everything! We must go by way of a secret door into Hyrule. Come, I`ll lead the way."

"But why? What is that pendant?" asks Esmelda.

Before it slips below Link`s shirt the pendant flashes in the fire`s light. It`s shaped like a heart, outlined in a blue metal with the middle filled with a strange, sparkling red liquid. Link stands, grabs his sword and pack and as he kicks dirt over the fire he says "Our Queen is in danger."


	7. A strange occurance

Together the three of them thread their way through the quiet town while a bright moon looks down from above. Paper lanterns, full of oil, flicker at the eaves of stores and houses.

Esmelda is quickly pulled along; Link's gloved hand enveloping hers. She's a little bit frightened and fears to utter a question. Zee rides in the folds of her hood, whispering of little wonders she sees.

The town is silent and everyone in bed except for the muted sounds of lonely singing and the odd pillar of smoke coming from a chimney. Their headlong rush is stopped suddenly and Esmelda says "Sir Link?" But Zee answers "We're in front of the Temple of Time. And he's kneeling for some reason. Hey hero! Why do we stop?"

But Link's attention is elsewhere. His hands are clasped around the pommel of his sword and the point buried between the cracks of the road. It's been too long since he thought of the Sages so he takes a moment to remember the old man and the others who gave their lives to save Hyrule. _No_, he admits, _I killed them, I can't forget that._ But every death had a lesson and every lesson put him one step closer to defeating Gannon. He says a silent thank you and grips the handle of his sword tightly.

"What's that?" asks Zee and points towards the horizon. Link rises, taking Esmelda's hand and brings her closer. He looks towards the East where there's a slight glow just beyond the mountains. "A sunrise? Now?" But it is not the sun and the glow grows into a white line of brightness that stretches the whole horizon. "This can't be good," says Link.

Esmelda looks towards his face, "What's happening! What can't be good?"

But suddenly there is no time for words. The bright line flashes over the mountains and fills the whole sky from clouds to ground with an unbroken wall of roiling energy. It takes seconds to cross the plains in front of Hyrule Castle, a buzzing din growing as it gets closer. Nothing can be seen through the wall, just a shifting and arcing wall of white.

"Should we run, sir Link?"

"No child, I think we cannot. Do not worry," and he puts a hand on hers. The wall hits the town gates and rushes upon the sleeping population. Then it's a block from the trio and Link takes his arms and wraps them around the girl, shielding her down on the ground. The buzzing grows to a roar, the sound a million swarming insects. Link spares one last look as the wall of energy towers over him. Then he is in it.

He thought death was waiting, but the truth is almost unimaginable. He opens his eyes again and the world as he knew it is no more. Against a background of impenetrable dark blue lines outline everything that was once there. The road is now two thin lines stretching away under countless squares and triangles that make the houses. Even the trees and bushes are now just bundles of lines. Inside every transparent square house is one or two glowing blue dots; some moving around, some floating atop rectangle squares.

In bewilderment Link looks down at his hands but except for a bluish tinge they are normal. Esmelda too is solid. Link draws his sword, but in his hand it is the same, twin lines of blue creating the shape of a sword, though there is a slight difference as the sword seems to shimmer slightly and Link catches one or two glimpses of its real texture.

"Sir Link," he hears her say, but the sound is dull and metallic in his ears, "I…I…can see!" And Link looks again at this young girl and her eyes blaze a bright blue. "Do you see it all too?" asks Link?

But Esmelda doesn't know what to say. To those that have sight there is no great difficulty in unifying language with the real world. But to the blind? She's only ever had the definition of words to rely on the descriptions of the world. Now she sees the truly incredible and the words fall flat in her mind.

At first she sees what Link saw: the blue lines making up every object. She sees Zee hovering over her shoulder, a collection of angles and short lines. Even her eyes are angled ovals. And then something shifts in Esmelda's mind and she looks closer. The lines seem to be shimmering or moving slightly. She looks closer. The pupil of the fairy's eye, a few connecting blue lines slowly come into focus. And suddenly Esmelda realizes she's seeing numbers, for first time, running up and down along the thin lines. More than she count, flowing endlessly along every shimmering line of the fairy's body. In shock she turns away, almost unable to comprehend this new sight. She stumbles into a tall bush and when her hand pushes at the outline of a leaf, a tumble of numbers seem to run from the disturbed leaf down the stem to the base of the grouped lines.

Finally she cries out "Enough! Link! What is this?" And when she looks to him she gasps. The twin marks of the Triforce glow solidly though his gloves. The triangle of courage glows steadily but the one of power pulses as she watches it. As it pulses it seems to send out tendrils of golden lines that reach out to other blue ones.

Link reaches her and they stand together. Far off, where the lines of the world almost fade to nothing a bright light grows again. Like before it stretches infinitely far down and up. The wall of energy flows over the land, swallowing up all before it. Link throws an arm protectively over Esmelda and they wait for it to hit them.

And when Link blinks again the world is right. The lantern light of the town flickers normally and the sounds of an out-of-tune violin echoes into the night. "Are you two alright?" asks Zee.

"What'd you see, fairy?" Link gasps.

"See? What do you mean? The two of you just huddled on the ground for a second. Are you playing a joke?"

Esmelda speaks up "That white light. You didn't see it?"

Zee flies up, thinking they're mocking her, "No, no and no. C'mon we can't be wasting time here, hero."

"The fairy didn't see it." says Link half to himself. "But Esmelda, you said you could see. How about now?"

Esmelda almost cries to remember being able to see. "No Sir Link, I cannot anymore. But I did! I really did! I swear."

"I believe you, girl, I do. I saw it too." But what was it he wonders, hardly able to guess, even after all the strange wonders of magic and power he has seen. Finally Link shakes his head, putting the affair behind him as he focuses again on the dire message sent by his love. "Come, we'll sort this out later. We must get to the castle."

And they fly again down the quiet streets that echo with no cries of disturbance, no townsfolk howling in confusion; no alarms raised in the passing of that strange anomaly. Nothing that is expect a little black dog that runs around the back alleys, yipping and howling in it's own strange merriment, completely unaware that it used to be white.


	8. The death of a Queen

In my dream I die. A shadowy hand reaching from some dark place strangles my throat until no more breathe passes between my lips. There is fear to be sure, my heart throbs with the feel of it. But I know somewhere out there is an undiscovered country, a land more free than any my body may roam in. And it is wonderful, for what dreams may come after the passing of death? It gives me pause to consider and perhaps a mortal imagination is no competent tool to judge what comes beyond the veil. For all I would strive to fight and claw against the grinning skull beckoning me past the red curtains into the shadowed world I know it's useless. We're all granted the limited vision of mortality so that each breathe is precious, each day a tick in the clock of our life and each hour the bell rings not for the wasted moments but the ones left to enjoy; it rings for ourselves.

The tea is strong this morning and the sun red as it rises over the mountains. The air is clean and pure and each time I take a long breath and exhale like it is the last. Then I take another sip, look at the flowers in the courtyard below and take another long breath, enjoying the peace and quiet that exists out there, peace that I have worked so hard for. Its enough now to imagine it'll never end.

But soon it will.

I died in my dream and so I know today is the last.

I laugh a little. How easy I can do that. My life's been long, a struggle sometimes, a burden at others. But would I've been happy doing anything else? With the clarity that rides on this last morning I can say honestly no.

I was born to be a Queen and nothing else.

"Zelda?" comes a demurred voice from the door. "Ah, my Queen, you're awake. Good. The man you requested is here."

Shey, my old faithful maid, the most welcome sight to any Queen so early in the morning. "Send him in right away. And some biscuits please, Shey."

"As you wish my Queen." But she hesitates.

"What is it Shey? Speak your mind, please."

"Well Zelda, I've been waiting on you for ten years now and, well, you look different this morning. More rested than I've ever seen."

"Thank you, my friend. I….well…I've come to a decision that's been troubling me for a very long time. Now please, my visitor?"

"Very well, I'll get those biscuits then."

After a few moments a man wearing a hooded brown cloak enters my chamber. He drops on one knee, hand to heart and says the oath "Faith, Patience, Observance."

"Rise Jern, it is good to see you. What word do you bring?"

Jern takes off his cloak revealing the white and blue uniform of the sheik. They are my spies in the kingdom, formed initially to combat the leftover army from Gannon's defeat. After Gerudo and the countless monsters had been hunted and killed it became a necessity to keep an eye on any revolutionary gatherings or worshippers of darker spirits. I've always tried to keep this sword sheathed though I must admit I have bloodied more than once in the name of peace.

My man speaks "My Queen. It is good to look upon you again. Our chapter has been too long without a personal word from you."

"Jern, that almost sounds like criticism." I couldn't resist the jibe.

"No, my Queen, merely that there are many new recruits who could benefit from your word. We grow larger everyday. There are many who are anxious to service for the kingdom."

What I can read in his words are the very problems of my kingdom. People think once peace has been reached a kingdom can exist into perpetuity. But peace is a thin veneer to the hard work needed to keep it in place. I thought at first as a new Queen I had but to make a few proclamations and the rest would sort itself out.

But problems always arise. There's trade with other nations, competition for water rights from the Zora, securing ore contracts from the Gerudo and of course the constant bickering over the wood harvested from the vast forests of the elves. And not to mention the headache of how all these races fit within my kingdom.

I was naïve in the beginning to think I could travel to the heads of these races telling them of a untied Hyrule and how we are all brothers and sisters. No, they each have their own worlds; of rock, of water, of the high trees- and Hyrule is just a word to them. How many years now have I tried to convince them that we are stronger together? With every year of peace we grow farther apart. And now Jern brings this news?

I read the reports and see more people anxious to join and inform on their neighbors. I see made-up charges of treason and betrayal only to get favor with the castle. I see mayors of distant towns become their own tyrants and try to force harsh penalties on their townsfolk. All in my name.

All in my name? No, in the name of Hyrule. In the name of the power that backs the throne. In the Triforce.

What would they say, these people of mine, if they knew their Queen wondered what would be if the Triforce did not exist.

"I know this Jern. Please continue."

Jern continues his report, "As you wish. We have reports that early this morning Fire Mountain ceased to erupt."

"Ceased?"

"Yes M'lady. It stopped spewing smoke into the air and the ash circle above its peak has dissipated."

Of course, it happens today. "Anything else?"

"Is that not enough, my Queen? What word should we spread about?"

"Trust me, it is a small matter Jern. I imagine if you check with our agents near the Zora you will find the river turning colder and colder. Soon it will sop flowing."

Imagine that, my top agent can look surprised. His mouth hangs open "But that hasn't happened since…..."

"Yes, I know. Nonetheless check on it. But here's what you will do. Send word to the Kokiri that an old friend will visit them soon. Also report to the chapters that they are to disband and report to the armies. I want no more spies, is that understood Jern?"

"But, why? Won't you need are services?"

"Was it ever your place to question me?" It is the voice that does it, the words that sound like stone slamming down, with a look to say I am the Queen; the very last word on any command.

He bows his head, "It was a pleasure serving you then my Queen."

He puts his cloak on and turns to go but I call out to him one last time. "Jern. Do you remember my wish if I should die?"

He turns and approaches, kneeling before me. "Zelda," he takes my hand, "I am no zealot to belive without reason. I've seen what you've done for Hyrule and though I cannot understand what you do know I will not question it for I trust you. I will protect your last wish if I must defeat all of Hyrule to do it." He rises and silently walks out of the room. A good man, one of the few left to me.

My shoulders are stiff, the kingdom is heavy, which will break first, I wonder. When I was a child, before my parents were killed, I used to ride out to Hyrule Lake with my dear _. She taught me the importance of seeing, breathing and savoring the fruits of my kingdom. Our family history is filled with those who grew stiff under the weight of the Crown, who never set foot outside the castle and grew ancient, gilded and hard like the gems that adorn the throne. If death's haunting smile lingers so close in my dreams- well then I cannot let these last moments waste within the confines of the castle.

I tour the hallways on my way out, giving slight smiles and a touch on the arm here and there. In one room I see Malon seated next to her daughter, teaching her the strategies of war. Ever in her armor, she tenderly pats _'s back when she's right and forcibly pounds the table when she is wrong. They see me in the doorway and rise but I smile fleetingly and wave them to stay.

Outside, the stables are empty and when the taskmaster says all the horses are being used for training my enthusiasm turns to disappointment. I hop a small wall and sit in the grass next to the clear water of the moat.

"What's a Queen have to do to get away?" I say aloud.

"All you have to do is ask," comes a voice from behind and I know it's him.

"But a Queen commands," I counter, still looking forward.

"Then I am ever yours to order," comes the whispery voice, much closer.

"Then I demand…," his hands are on my shoulders, "I demand….," his fingers running through my hair, "I demand….," almost breathless.

"Yes, I know my love." I turn and there he is, kneeling in the grass, blue eyes inches from my own and all too serious face looking so handsome. He moves closer and closer, and before our lips touch I manage the one order I've been dying to make "A kiss."

With the sun high in the sky we finally stir from his green cloak. After dressing he turns to me and asks "What danger are you in my love?"

I wave the matter away, cupping his chin and smiling, "Won't you take me Hyrule Lake, Link? One last time?"

He misses the slip, smiling. Into his pack he goes, drawing out the blue ocarina. The melody is high and sweet, reminding me of autumn days filled with swirling leaves. "Epona?" I ask. He smiles and nods. I whirl around, looking everywhere for the fabled companion of Link. I hear Link whistle and yell and when I look there she is, leaping the moat in a single elegant jump. The horse lands, trots over to nuzzle Link and neigh happily. He runs his fingers through her shaggy mane and says "It's been a long time, uh? You remember her right?"

Her coat is burnt amber, the color of an autumn fire and rich mahogany. Her coat shines in the sun and as I stroke her side. She still bears the magnificent white diamond of fur on her forehead. She huffs my face and decides she remembers as I get a large, wet kiss. Link mounts up and leans over to give me his hand. "Shall we?"

It is the longest afternoon of my life. We travel through the plains of long grass under a blue sky filled with puffy, white clouds. He takes the path through the stately forest that borders the lake and the low hanging leaves brush against my head. He's telling me of his travels' and we laugh and the wind comes through the trunks of the trees and everything is perfect. There are glimpses of the lake through holes in the canopy that are little pictures of glittering diamonds. We leave the tree line and walk out along a high cliff, then out on a broad arch of rock that stops hundreds of feet over the lake. The pillar of rock that is the cliff's edge is broad. We dismount and sit together with our feet dangling far over the blue waters below.

He tells me of Esmelda and the strange wall of energy. It fits with everything that has happened but all I tell him is "We'll handle Link, we always do."

He kisses me again and I want him to do that a hundred times, a thousand before the sun sets. Instead I take his hand in mine and say "Link, did you ever think what you would do if you weren't saddled with the responsibility of the Triforce?"

He smiles, "sure, every moment of everyday. But I don't indulge in much daydreaming, you know that."

But I try again "C'mon, what would you do?"

He sighs "If I had never been a hero, never have known you, never gotten these marks? Honestly? Either lost somewhere in a small village in the forest or a traveling merchant. I could never stand the big towns and got anxious if I ever stopped somewhere long enough to feel trapped. I need that sunrise over a new mountain, a new town, a new land to feel alive. Sure the danger of guarding the Triforce is real but if I didn't have that? I'm sure Hyrule would never have known who I was. I might be sitting under a tree somewhere, next to a lake like this, wondering where to go next and where my food might come from."

"A true wanderer, then. You always were Link."

"And you, my Queen? Would you be a simple farmer?"

I had never seen myself doing anything else than being a Queen. Hyrule is the first thing I think about getting up and the last thing to ponder before going to bed. It is all I know and love. But if the truth be told sometimes I have walked through the streets of a town or toured some smaller part of the kingdom and seen the young women there and envied them. How they laughed as they held their bundles and walked carefree. How they looked at their men as they held hands and sat in peace. At nights I could see families, through the glass of their windows, sitting together over meals, talking and living simpler lives. It made my heart ache sometimes and I would swear against the documents and decisions waiting for me back in the castle.

But then I remember that lovers smile and families love because they have the peace to do so. It is enough that I can see that and that is the reason why I am the Queen.

To Link I only say "I was born to it. Only sometimes I wish the Triforce were not in the equation and Hyrule could deal honestly with its problems."

"Ahh Zelda. That's like ignoring the naked blade of sword. It's there and we can do nothing but deal with it."

A hero to be sure. Always logical, always dealing with the proper truth. That's why he's able to endure.

I kiss him to dispel the discussion. He grins happily and yells to the skies. We talk of more things but they fade under the quiet enjoyment of his presence. The afternoon grows long. Finally I turn to him and say "Link, will you always love me?"

"Yes," he says simply.

"And you would do whatever I say?"

No hesitation. "I trust you to always ask of me the right things."

"What comes first Link, the Queen or me?" It's an unfair question to ask but I need to know.

"They are one and the same to me. I can no more obey one over the other."

I sigh because I cannot force him understand me at this time. It is tragic and perhaps comical that we share the complete power of the Triforce and yet it stands between us even now. I cannot share with him what strands of possibility lie in the future for him as to even know a glimpse what's to come could alter the outcome.

So I say to his honest blue eyes and questioning face "I could ask nothing more from you, my love."

We spend the remaining time watching the light turn golden over the wide valley and settle like beaten metal over the lake. The tips of the surrounding hills seem like soft fur and the carpet of green trees below undulate back and forth peacefully. Finally we stir and head back towards the castle.

Link wears his green cloak and hides his face in the deep hood, passing himself off as my messenger. When we reach my room I find Esmelda waiting. She hears us enter and kneels, "My Queen! I found sir Link. I…" But Link quiets her by taking her hand and bidding her stand. "I am here with her now dear girl of the desert."

Esmelda nods her head and I lean down to kiss her on the cheek. "You are a brave girl, to hear of your adventure you faced a mighty danger." The girl beams. Suddenly a blue light shoots out of her hood and the melodic voice of Zee squeaks out "And I helped her! Never got lost, nope! Right by her side the whole time."

I smile at the fairy, well aware of how curious and mischievous they are. "I'm sure you were just as brave and courageous Zee. Thank you." The fairy does a little circle while flying and then lands back on Esmelda's shoulder.

"Zelda," says Link, "now tell me of this danger. You wouldn't have sent me this locket for nothing." He takes out the blue heart medallion and I sigh. The locket had once saved him from the paralyzing stare of the undead; hidden magic locked with its swirling red heart. It had belonged to a girl he had failed to save and he kept it for a long time in reminder of the depravity that can befall power abused.

"You gave it to me last time I saw you, Link."

"That's right. To be honest it was heavy but I couldn't bear to throw it away."

"I know. But you must take it back. Its power might save you again."

"Why? Have you seen something?"

The sun is setting through the large window, red and glaring. I can see the concern in Link's face and it hurts me. Esmelda is sitting on my bed, sightless eyes swinging back and forth between us. I can hear the loud shriek of a hawk as it circles the tower and I imagine that to the bird it must be its own god, free to fly to it's own will and nothing but the air of the heavens and the majesty of the sunset to impinge on its wild wheeling. I take Link's hand and we stand together watching the sun sink slowly beyond the horizon. The crescent turns into a sliver which fades into the haze of the sky and I close my eyes and think of nothing.

When I open them the corner of the room grows dark and I know my time has come.

It starts as a small chuckle and grows into a dark and menacing laugh. Link crouches, a hand on his sword and his eyes scanning the room. The laughter grows maddeningly loud until suddenly it stops, and into the silence steps Gannon.

He looks as he did when he was at the height of his power: red hair that dances like the flames of a fire, ebony black armor that both shines and absorbs the light, a sneer that erases all the good in the world and two black eyes that fall on the room with evil delight.

True to form Link wastes no breath and the moment Gannon appears, in one flowing motion, he draws his sword and cuts through Gannon's middle. But the sword passes through the ghostly apparition and Gannon sneer deepens. "My boy…my boy. No smarter with age it seems."

Link snarls in anger, yelling "I killed you! Why won't you stay dead?" I could see all the long buried hate that this man had caused Link surfacing.

"Not your concern, boy. I'm back and I want my power!" Link tries again with his sword. It passes through again but this time Gannon catches his hands. "You don't deserve these marks, only me. Only I know the power they can unleash." And suddenly Link shouts in pain, a glow enveloping both their hands.

I can take it no more and so push Esmelda down and stride forward to meet Gannon. His eyes turn and he begins to smile even while dealing with Link. "Ahh, Zelda. Still as beautiful. Have you come to be my slave?"

No," I say and touch his shoulder. Gannon draws back as if stunned, mouth open and eyes blazing. Link falls back, released from the vile power of Gannon. He struggles to move forward, reaching for my face. I grip harder on his shoulder and he falls back. The triforce on my hand burns something incredible and it's all I can do to calmly tell Link "Run!"

His face bunches up in righteous rage and I see him beginning to argue so I interrupt. "Link! You said you could never choose between the Queen and your love. Listen to me! I have him now, he can't move but neither can I. Don't you see? You can't let him get the two Triforce. You must run and find some other way to fight."

Damn him though because I can see his rage clouding over his thoughts. He raises his right fist and it begins to glow with golden light. "No!" I shout, "It makes him stronger!" Even as I warned him Gannon seemed to push forward, getting nearer to the center of the room.

"Link! Listen to me! I love you!" and he did, though it hurt my heart to see his face. His shoulders sag and there is such sadness at his eyes. "You need to run! Go to the Kokiri, I have left instructions for them and Gannon cannot follow you there."

And I stretch out my hand for his and his fingertips meet mine and we share that one moment. He looks pleadingly at me, silently begging for any alternative. But I am a Queen. "Link, I command you to run! Take Esmelda and make for the forest. I will be ok and there are guards close by. Go!"

But he is my love too, so I add with a small smile "I will always love you, remember that."

I don't know what he thinks, if he believes me or how much he struggles against throwing himself at Gannon. But after an agonizing second he grabs Esmelda and runs to the door, throwing it open and slamming it after.

Gannon turns his black eyes on me, "Heart-warming, my dear, but ultimately futile. You don't know what forces you're dealing with. I'll have him eventually."

I still grip his shoulder tightly and I say through gritted teeth "I know what you are Gannon. You are dead. You are only a fraction of what Gannon was and no more. I don't know what power brings you back but I know you are nothing but some rotting skull that dreams of power."

For a second I swear I can see death's white skull grinning through the tanned skin of Gannon's, and I fear that my next breath will be my last. But he merely smiles and shrugs "It's true. I have no memory of my death but that is of no consequence. I still desire conquest and I shall have it." He moves closer and I can smell a miasma of black foulness that makes my head swim. "And you, Zelda, will be the first. You will tire soon and when you do I will have your Triforce. Then I will be free to pursue the boy." And he continues to glare down from the pits of his dark eyes.

I feel it at last, that moment when the shifting strands of possibility all fall straight and clear. It's like a bell that rings and suddenly I feel strangely at peace. "No Gannon, I think not. It has ever been our destiny to defy you."

There is a small dagger I wear at my waist and I draw it now. Its sharp point gleams from the golden light of our struggle. My grip on the dagger is strong and my hand does not shake. I see Gannon howl in rage as he fights to break our bond, trying desperately to get at me. My breath comes easy and I think of Link and wonder if he will be in my dreams.

* * *

><p>Link pauses outside the door at the stone steps when he hears Gannon's roar. It's followed by a loud clap as if made by an implosion of air. Link strains his ears for any sound but there is only silence. Esmelda stands by his side, her hand in his, not daring to make a sound. Link turns as if to head back but stops. Several times he moves to go back, and several times he visibly tears himself away. Esmelda fnally ventures "Sir Link, shouldn't we go?"<p>

Link bends down and takes the girl in his arms, hugging her tight. "Yes, my friend." He stands with her in his arms and sees the small puddle of red spreading from under the door.

"Link! You're squeezing me too tight!" A small sob escapes into the red hair of Esmelda as Link presses his head into her neck. Tears stream down his face as he manages "Sorry." If she could see the despair would be evident in his face but all she can do is listen to the breathless sobs that force past his lips. She hugs him back tightly.

Then he puts her down, throws his cloak back over the blood, takes her hand and runs.

On the way out they pass Malon and her daughter walking up to visit the Queen. They see the sorrow on his face and stop. "Link!" Malon says happily, "What are you doing here?" But he does not stop and flees the castle. He finds Epona and puts Esmelda up on the saddle, and then mounts behind her. Brushing away the tears he yells to Epona and they gallop away from the castle courtyard. Voices behind them rise in a shout, "Murder! The Queens been killed!"

Link rides and rides into the twinkling darkness, the wind whipping the tears away and drying his eyes. But there's still agony in there and a hint of hardness replacing a portion of his heart. They reach the forest near the boundary of Hyrule. In the near black of the forest they dismount and Link leades Epona by her bridle down wild trails. Suddenly Esmelda cries out in pain and Link manages to just catch her as she falls out of the saddle. He lowers her to the ground where she writhes back and forth.

"Shhsh girl. What is it?" Esmelda grows still and slowly thrusts her right hand up in to the air, groaning in pain. And as Link watches astonished, the golden mark of the Triforce appears on her hand. A shining triangle against a sea of stars.


	9. In the forest of lost children pt 1

"Zelda is dead. And I'll never hear her laugh again, never walk hand in hand through the forest on an autumn day and never hear the music of her heart as we lay pressed together."

The thought creeps in as the sun rises between the brown trunks of stately giants. Link stumbles in the deep moss, his foot catching the corner of a hidden root. His fall carries him onto his back where in his grief he lays there for several moments, gazing up into the massive canopies. The pale light of morning peeks through the gently swaying leaves; in the dim dusk of shadow inside the woods all is quiet and serene.

The wet nose of a horse wuffs in Link's ear and he cracks a small smile. "Ah, Epona," he says, grabbing the horse's reigns and letting her pull him up.

Esmelda stirs in the saddle, lifting her head and looking sightlessly around. "Sir Link?" she calls, her voice tinged with a hint of panic. She has grown to depend on his presence, readily believing all the legends and tales of the hero.

"I'm here Esmelda," and he puts a hand to her arm to calm her. He looks into her face and not for the first time feels that there is something vaguely familiar about the set of her eyes and form of her mouth. But he can't place it. "Did you sleep?" he asks.

"A little. Where are we? I cannot hear anything but the chirp of birds."

"We are in the deep forest now and grow close to the Kokiri village." They don't speak about the dark events of the previous day nor of the harried flight into the woods; even the appearance of the triforce upon Esmelda's hand goes unvoiced. For Link the pain is too close to the surface and he needs the soothing green of the woods to heal. That and time.

So they venture farther into the Lost Forest. The trees grow taller and thicker, the moss more abundant until it stretches underneath like a rolling green carpet. They cross rent chasms of the earth on vast fallen logs and wade through a sea of ferns. Here and there shafts of light pierce the quiet, creating an atmosphere of almost reverent sanctity. Stone rocks peak up through moss or from under the twisted roots, their smooth faces betraying etched lines or angular cuts. Link remembers the crumbled remains of lost temples in other parts of Hyrule and thinks it's fitting that here the hand of man is so quickly covered over.

Link is hard and firm from years of wandering and could walk all day but the red-haired girl grows sore and weary in the saddle so they stop next to a small water-fall that drains down over ebony rocks into a mirror-still pond.

Esmelda dismounts and feels her way to the edge of the water to drink while Link pulls out his Ocarina and plays a slow, low song.

From the saddle bag at Epona's side comes a muffled exclamation and out pops the fairy, her blue glow casting a magical light on the small clearing. She looks around, and seeing each of her companions absorbed drifts over above the small pond. Link's music fills the hollow in the woods and soon Zee is dancing to its melody above the water. Her small feet skim the surface of the pond as she pivots about, more graceful than any human dancer. She spins, sways and takes elegant leaps that send out tiny ripples when she lands. A most beautiful sight.

While Link plays and the tiny fairy dances Esmelda rubs her hand. The golden triangle had begun to ache and it worries her. She dips it down to touch the water and when she does, things change completely.

Out of the blackness of her vision comes the outline of the pond, a simple blue oval line. Inside it are pulses or bursts of white. The burst is followed each time by a wave of refracted- angled lines that spread across the oval. Something clicks in her mind and the fairy is there above the oval, a brilliant dot of blue. She bends down closer to the oval line and it becomes a portal through which a strange scene can be seen. Unlike the thin lines that outline the pond and the fairy the scene in the portal is more real and colorful than anything she has ever seen.

She sees a room in an ancient castle with walls covered in glyphs and strange symbols. Through the window she can see far off hills covered in the reds and greens of autumn trees. Clouds drift below her window, thread their way through the halls and rooms of the castle. There is a town nestled among the trees, made up of red and blue roofs and fantastical towers that disappear into the blue sky. But not a soul stirs and no voices ring in this vision. She finds herself suddenly peering over the edge of the battlements, shocked to discover that the land merely ends, replaced by open air and the distant, flat land far below. As she watches, the land moves and she realizes that the castle, the entire kingdom here is drifting in the clouds. _I'm skyward_, she thinks.

But then a flash of pain arcs through her mind and the vision ripples and dissolves, replaced with the black soulless eyes set in a face that can only be described as sinister. The man's hair dances as if aflame. There are no pupils in those black depths but Esmelda suddenly feels that they have focused from a long distance directly on her.

An inhuman voice comes through the portal "Oh, this is precious," his voice dripping with malevolent delight. "A Gerudo? Come girl, you have called. Don't you know your King?" Esmelda draws back in horror. "Yes, it is I Gannondorf, the true heir to the power of the Triforce. Now do me proud as a little sister of the desert and hand it over." Esmelda jerks farther back and clutches her hand to her chest, "No!"

"Little sister, little sister, your blood will never reach the sands of our home. Do you want to die in this ugly place? Listen to your King, listen to your….." and the visage of Gannon seems to pause, brows furrowed as he looks intently at Esmelda. "Well, well, well. Precious indeed, daughter." And Esmelda screams, stumbling back, pushing away at the vision. Her blindness slowly returns but not before the last echo of Gannon's ghostly voice comes to her "Very well, my flesh and blood."

Link hears her scream and when he looks over he draws his sword, the steel ringing out around the clearing. For emerging out of the still waters of the pond is a metal hand clenched in a fist. Droplets of water stream from its mirrored surface as the rest of the metal man emerges into view. Only when its face turns towards Link does he recognize it. To his horror it is his own face that grins back evilly at him, and his own sword that is drawn from metal scabbard with a clang and leveled steadily at his heart.

Only this thing is supposed to be dead, pushed over a cliff in the City of Time. Link still remembers its mechanical laughter ringing after it as it fell, like the blows of a hammer raining upon an anvil. What scares Link most of all is he knows this metal man was made from a piece of himself, a piece of his soul, the part that might use power to kill, maim and torture, a darker part. A dark Link.

The metal monstrosity steps out of the pond and looks straight at Link. It's a perfect copy of him, only missing the two triforce marks and bearing that strange, unnerving grin.

It advances upon Esmelda and before Link can rush it the dark form of himself lays a silvered finger upon the brow of the blind girl. Before she can cry out, thoughts and emotions pour into her, all the petty passions and grim sins of a disturbed soul. She feels such unfiltered selfish hatred and jealousy towards Link, and it is difficult to separate the truth from this malignant intrusion. Finally a memory slips in; Link standing over a helpless Gannon who all but cries in surrender. "This is your hero," comes a voice as Link plunges the sword into Gannon's belly.

The insidious worm of emotion is torn away as Dark Link flies across the clearing, slamming into the trunk of a tree. "Are you okay, Esmelda?" says Link, standing over her. She flinches at first but finds his hand and stands. "I think….Yes, I'm ok," _but terrified_ she thinks.

The metal man starts to get up and Link pushes Esmelda away saying "Run! Put some distance between us. I'll find you after I take care of this." She runs blindly, managing to snag Epona's reigns and flee.

Link turns back to his dark self. They face each other across the pond. The thing's mouth opens and Link finds his own voice cruelly mocked back at him, "I'll take care of this!"

Link controls his anger, knowing the subtle tricks the enemy uses. This time he's ready, this time he'll kill it for good. He shoulders his shield with the blue and silver crest of Hyrule and holds his sword level.

They rush at the same time, their swords meeting at the same angle, sending off sparks of light as they hit. Link pivots, sending his enemy's sword down into the moss, while at the same time continuing the turn to slash at its neck. But the thing is every bit a swordsman as Link and drops low to drive a hard metal shoulder into Link's stomach.

So they go, trading blow for blow, parrying, dodging and countering each measured cut. The action is almost rhythmic, for each countered blow is less a single individual cut and more a continuous flow from the first swing of the blade.

But as a swordsman Link has always fought himself, holding his limitations to be his own ego and forever trying to break it. He has fought endless duels with empty air. Studying his own moves and analyzing each and every counter-point that could be made. He has sat and fought in the stillness of his own mind, seeking out any errant thoughts that could betray an intent to strike. It is this experience that has taught him how to fight almost unconsciously, using his intuition which had been honed to a razor point by daily practice.

Which, in the end, is how the metal man is defeated. It fights by reaction, always responding to any attack with a logical counter-point. Letting that all go Link steps towards Dark Link's overhand swing, the blade missing his head by inches. He grabs its hands, forcing the sword out and continuing the move to use the pommel of its sword to strike its forehead with a loud clang. It falls with a thud.

Link stands over it, his own sword pointed over its chest. He looks down into its quicksilver face and because he is a hero he gives it a chance. "How is Gannon back?" he shouts. The metal man is silent, only smiling smugly. "What'd he do to Zelda!" His knuckles grow white around the hilt of his sword. The metal mouth opens and a voice comes out sounding like the tearing of metal. "You killed her Link. You could not save her Link. You had the power but you did not use it Link." Each time it said his name with a cynical lilt, each syllable laden with undisguised contempt. "Everyone you know will die Link. Someday you will die too Link. And your power will be mine Link."

If he ever raged before it was like a candle to the bonfire that now consumes him. There is anger in his eyes and hate in his heart for how evil continues to survive unopposed. With barely a thought to it he raises his right hand and summons the power of the Triforce. The mark grows with golden radiance until the once shadowed clearing stands stark in naked relief. He grabs the hilt with both hands and as a golden light rushes down its length he plunges it into the chest of his dark soul.

To the last the metal man grins, even as its body shudders and its quicksilver skin begins to crack. Its eyes, nose and mouth emit golden rays and soon every surface of its skin is torn by ragged cracks.

Link yells out into the air, a roar of primal anger and at its peak when the veins in his neck bulge with effort the metal body collapses. All the golden light rushes back up the sword and into Link. His yell subsides and he slumps slowly to the forest floor. With the fight over he has time to think and the horror of what he has done comes to him.

The only chance in finally defeating it had been to absorb its essence back into himself. All the evil, all the base, ugly passions and dark desires- they are now a permanent part of himself again. He is immediately repulsed at the idea and looks down at his chest and hands as if they might be stained by some dark goo. But they are clean and he can only sigh and wonder aloud "What good is this power if it only brings bad things?"

A soft and kind voice behind him says "Do not forget your courage Link, it has ever been your strongest weapon."

Link lifts his head wearily to look towards this strange voice. "Saria?" he asks, clearly shocked.

"No," says the beautiful woman leaning lightly against the tree, "she was my sister." The woman pushes away from the tree, almost seeming to glide across the mossy floor. Her hair is the shade of a sun-lit leaf and she wears the green tunic of an elf. She has that elusive smile that is like a rare flower in the middle of a thicket of thorns. "My name is Daylia and I've been sent to guide you to our village."

Relief is visible in Link's strained eyes and he struggles up to his feet, taking her hand, "Then you are…."

"Yes, Link. Welcome home. The Kokiri have waited a long time for their lost son to return."

Kokiri. His last memories of the place are tinged with both sadness and pain. But he smiles, straps his sword and shield away and then uncharacteristically hugs Daylia tight. "I've waited a long time for this. Let's go home."

The elf with the green hair laughs. She points upwards towards the great, inter-locking branches that run like a road through the canopy. "Do you still remember how to move like an elf, Link?" she teases.

"Only one way to find out!" And together the hero and the Kokiri put hands on the rough bark of the tree and begin to climb.


End file.
